


Fallen Angel

by Grell_Belle_1945



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Age Difference, Attempt at Humor, Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Genji Shimada, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Both are adults when romance happens, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gabe cares, Gabe needs a break, Medium Slow Burn, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Road Trips, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Talon Reader (Overwatch), by ten years, like not really slow but just slow enough, reader is a little shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-10-01 12:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17244584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grell_Belle_1945/pseuds/Grell_Belle_1945
Summary: She was kidnapped, trained and tortured for years. She can no longer truly feel pain, and has lost hope for a happy life.She only prays for freedom.Her prayers are answered and more, in the form of one Gabriel Reyes.Her Guardian Angel.(I'm sorry for changing the summary so much.)





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Just saying this now, I'm using Google Translate for the Spanish.  
> So some of these Chapters are gonna be like song fics, cause I've been thinking about this story for a while and a few songs have inspired a few ideas for chapters.  
> Also, I'm in School... so slow updates.

She was eight when the Omnic rebellion started to hit the news.

She was nine, when she was walking home from school and the first attacks started to hit Los Angeles. She ran from the two AR-MD Omnics that blocked her path, they are human like in features but were used mostly by the police to help deal with cases involving fire arms, meaning that she needed to _run_ , lest she get shot by rebelling robots. Unfortunately, they saw her.

She was chased and herded into an alley. Shivering and terrified for her life, the young girl hid behind a rotten old box and prayed that they would leave, with no such luck. They fired their guns and she screamed and cried at the noise, their heavy metal steps sounded against the concrete.

She was going to die, her life was over, and she’d never get to see her mother again, never get to grow up. Because she was going to die in an alley, this was it…

“Hey!” the sound of metal hitting metal cut through her morbid thoughts. She glanced up to the end of the alley and saw a tall silhouette swing what looked like a pipe at the head of one of the AR-MD Omnics, the force of what she guessed was the second swing took the head off of its body.

The second Omnic turned to the threat and fired. The figure moved to the wall of the alley and the robot started forward.

She was panicking again, this time for the life of her savior. Looking around the girl saw a crate of old beer bottles tucked beside her cover. She grabbed the neck of one, took aim and threw it at the Omnic. She missed, but the thing paused and turned its head, then its body, to look back at her. A second bottle flew towards it and hit the side of its head, now she had its attention again and the other person took that chance and came back for another swing of his make shift weapon.

With both AR-MD Omnics down, the reality of what was going to happen to her hit her hard, she started to shiver and sob, as she sat beside the rotten box in the alley, which was close to being the final place she was ever going to see.

Her savior let out a shuttering sigh, as if reality hit them too. Slowly, they started walking towards her, “Hey, hey- um- why don’t get you out of this alley, eh? Let’s get you home.” The voice was male, he sounded concerned but uncomfortable.

Slowly, she raised her head from where it rested against her arms. Standing in front of her was a tall man with curling brown hair and warm hazel eyes, which looked kind of green in the light of the alley.

The man smiled down at her and held out his hand, “My name’s Gabriel, come on, Niña. Let’s get you home.” He knew Spanish, like her abuela. She gave Gabriel a watery smile and took his hand. The two walked out of the alley, and he walked her home, “Now, what’s your name?”

“(Y/N)” she softly whispered.

 

* * *

 

 

(Y/N) was ten when her family was forced from her home as more Omnics attacked. The American government was calling all who were willing and able to arms to try and fight, while the rest were escorted to various public buildings that have been converted to bunkers for the evacuated.

As she held her mother’s hand while walking with the crowd, (Y/N) thought back to Gabriel. It’s been a year since the Omnics started their assault, a year since the kind man saved her life and brought her home, where he had explained to her mother what had happened while she, herself, sobbed into her mother’s neck. He was thanked profusely by her mother and abuela for saving her, her abuela going as far as giving him her thanks before their dinner that night, making a comment on how Gabriel was the name of an Angel once. Her own Guardian Angel, her cousin joked.

Now, (Y/N) wondered where he was, if he was going to take up arms and save more people, if he was going to be the Guardian for more people who needed his help.

So lost in her thoughts, (Y/N) didn’t notice that she was no longer holding her mother’s hand until she was bumped into by an impatient grumbling man, she fell and looked around for her family. Only now realizing that they were no where nearby. She called out, repeatedly, but only got pushed and shoved by the crowd, getting more and more disoriented.

A large hand fell to her shoulder and she looked to see if it was her uncle, a stranger looked down at her and smiled, “I’m sure we’ll be able to find your family, girl. Come on, I’ll take you to the trucks that are taking everyone out of the city, maybe we’ll see them there?”

Nodding, (Y/N) let the man guide her through the crowd, to a seemingly unnoticeable truck were several other children were sitting, they were all looking into the crowd, seemingly looking for their families as well. Without warning, the man picked her up and practically threw her into the truck. The trucks doors were closed on the group and they all started to panic and cry in fear. The truck gave a lurch forward as it started to drive off.

She was ten when Talon took her.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, what’s the case this time, jefe?”

McCree’s lazy drawl sounded through Gabriel’s office. He and Genji had been itching for a new mission and they’d agreed that confronting Reyes would help them scratch said itch. The man in question was busy looking over a few pages from a fairly thick file and exasperatedly ran his hand down his face. Jesse took note on how tired the man had seemed the past few days, shadows were growing under his eyes and his shoulders were tensed up, almost as if they were the only things keeping him upright in the first place. He needed a vacation.

“You two are to head out to L.A to wait for further instructions.” was the curt reply he got.

“And you will be…?” Jesse knew he was poking the bear but he was curious, “I assume somewhere else, why aren’t we headin’ out with you?”

“Because, you will not be needed until I give the call.” Reyes pinched the bridge of his nose and threw the pages he was holding onto his desk, “I will be in Colorado, there’s a Talon base in the Gothic mountain and I’ll be gathering information there on a possible new weapon Talon has and when I guarantee that this Intel is accurate or not, you two will be notified. Then, if needed, will be sent in for clean up.”

“Clean up as in?”

“As in clean up, the base is small and not as guarded as most, so copying then wiping the files they have and killing whatever guards are there.” McCree opened his mouth to comment, but Reyes held up his hand before he could, “I know this seems off, but we’ll take what we can.”

“Alright, so when are we headin’ out?”

“Thirty minutes, so hurry and tell Shimada to get ready.”

With a sigh and shrug, McCree left with that. Gabriel looked back down at the file and sighed, he needed a vacation.

 

* * *

 

 

A failed mission forced the collar back around her throat. The electrical currents pulsed through her body but the pain had long since faded.

She stared with empty eyes at the wall, as the agents around her were working ways to get past her defenses, to make her feel pain again.

Her life has become so boring! It was the same every day: wake up, insert nutrient IV, get pushed into the gyms to train until exhaustion hit, get dragged to her room. Repeat.

She was happy for the days when they gave her something different to do, like a mission that took her away from the base, took her to somewhere new in the world. She even stopped her complaining and fighting when they asked her to kill!

This was the life of (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Boring and repetitive, filled with death and people attempting to make her feel pain again.

So when the alarms went off and the yelling started, (Y/N) was practically giddy with excitement. She sat up on the floor, not having a bed was definitely a creative and decorative decision on Talons part, and she faced the door waiting.

She knew there wasn’t much in the base; it was small, housing close to thirty agents and her. She had no idea who would try and attack; there really was nothing to gain here.

(Y/N) continued to wait through the gun shots, she could pick up the sounds of a shotgun from the attackers, and shouts from everyone on base. The alarm was cut and minutes later there was silence. She wiggled in her place on the floor, her ears straining to listen for who won.

Minutes dragged on even more and soon she began to get impatient, her hopes for something exciting dwindling down until she was certain that the agents here had managed to defend their home.

With a huff and roll of her eyes, she leaned back against the wall. Just as (Y/N) felt the cool concrete through her shirt the door to her room opened.

Her eyes widened, as she took in the tall silhouette. Her mind raced back to twenty years ago, a silhouette at the end of the alley, pipe in hand, ready to save her.

“Hello? My name’s Gabriel, I’m here to help, can you walk?”

Her Guardian Angel.


	2. Rookie

“So, it’s just you here?” (Y/N) asked as she easily removed the handcuffs Gabriel had put on her, maybe being completely honest with him about why she was with Talon wasn’t the best idea. She slid them into his back pocket and looked around the control room they were in, all without him realizing.

“That’s none of your concern.” He was cold and curt with his answers; a drastic difference from the concern he showed her when he thought that she was just an average prisoner.

“All the files on these computers are about my progress, just so you know.” She walked over to the guard Gabriel had shot earlier, and nudged her side with her foot. The guard seemed equal to her size. (Y/N) looked down at the plain cotton shorts and tank top they kept her in when she wasn’t on missions. With a shrug she began to undress the guard.

The rustling of fabric caught Reyes’s attention and he turned quickly with his gun drawn. (Y/N) looked over her shoulder at him with a quirked brow, “Can I help you?” she finished pulling her new shirt over her head, plain and black nothing too noticeable or distinguishable. With a nod she began to take the cargo pants.

“What are you doing?”

“Changing.”

“Where are your cuffs?”

“Your pocket.” She pulled the cargo pants up her legs and checked the pockets. Oh, car keys! That’s useful. She pulled on the boots and checked the knife strapped to the side of the left one, looking over at Gabriel’s unimpressed face she gave him a dazzling smile, “Are you going to continue asking stupid questions? Or are you going to get a move on with those files? The silent alarm has been going on for an hour now, so we only have so much time left.”

She watched his eyes widen before he whipped back around to the computer, “Why didn’t you tell me about the silent alarm earlier?!”

“Why didn’t you ask?” (Y/N) walked up beside him and watched as he clumsily clicked and typed around the computer, it was staring to become obvious that he wasn’t one for computer work, more of a ‘punching is the solution’ kind of guy, “I have a question, did you know about this base? Or did you happen to stumble across it?”

“Received Intel.” With a muttered curse he stood back from the keyboard and ran a hand through his curly hair.

A snicker to his left made his jaw clench, “Incomplete Intel, by the looks of it.” She stepped up to the keys, “May I?”

Not waiting for a response, (Y/N) let her fingers fly. Somewhere she heard the distant sound of helicopter blades and silently cursed in her head. _Running out of time, running out of time._ Too late to turn off the alarm, she focused on the necessary files, “Do you have a hard drive or anything?”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and with a deep sigh, “No.”

With that (Y/N) straightened up, “Are you not prepared at all?”

“I wasn’t anticipating a silent alarm!”

“Rookie…” she transferred everything onto one of the computer’s internal drives, pulled her new knife from her boot and wrenched the side of the machine off. Crossing a few wires and circuits here and there and she managed to not only get everything that was needed, but the computers were set to fry each other! She stood up with a slight huff and handed the drive to Gabriel, “Here ya are, Rookie! Everything you need!”

With a glare, Gabriel grabbed the drive and shoved it in one of his pockets, he started toward the door before (Y/N) grabbed his arm, “Le-“ her other hand slapped over his mouth. His glare intensified before he realized why she was holding him back. Muffled footsteps and clicking sounded from the other side of the door; he watched her look around the room, her hand still resting on his forearm, nothing aside from the supply closet.

(Y/N) sighed, “Get in the closet.”

“Or we could just fight our way out.”

“Or we could not risk that they’ll have more agents than we can take, and just get in the closet.” She stepped over and opened the door; it’ll be a tight fit, “C’mon, Rookie.”

With a roll of his eyes Gabriel wedged himself into the closet, “Now, what?”

“Now, you wait.” With a smile, (Y/N) closed and locked the door, she hid one of the shotguns she swiped from Gabriel’s side, behind her back and slumped over in the corner of the room, eyes closed and waiting.

Gabriel stared at the closed door with a surprised, angry glare. The nerve of that woman! He let his hand run down his face as he tried to calm down. Letting his arm fall, it brushed against his waist and he realized he was missing one of his shotguns. His head snapped back up to the door, before he looked around for something to wedge the metal open. The nerve of that _stupid_ woman!

 

* * *

 

 

The door slid open with a skin tingling screech, two Talon grunts entered to take in the room while two stood on either side of the door; as one moved to assess the computers, the other made their way over to (Y/N).

“Agent?” a sharp kick to her leg, “Agent!”

(Y/N) kept as still as she could, while pretending to be unconscious, her leg stung now but this man will feel even worse soon.

With a huff of impatience, he turned to look at the computers with his partner. That’s when she moved. While kneeling, she braced her arm on her knee and took and shot at the man’s spine, the kickback of this shotgun was astounding! He fell with a cry and the agent at the computer turned only to be shot in neck, (Y/N) hated the helmets they wore, it made looking for an opening so tedious. The two keeping watch stepped in only to meet a similar fate.

(Y/N) stood there; waiting for footsteps, voices, anything to show that she needed to be ready. When there was nothing, she turned to the first agent she shot. He was a groaning mess on the floor, his legs bent at unnatural angles due to how he fell.

“Hey! Look at me!” she snapped, the guard quieted down, save for some heavy breathing, “You’re the first responders?”

“Y-yes.” He panted.

“Just the four of you?”

“Ma-may-be…” the man trailed off as he took in her deadpan expression, he yowled in pain as (Y/N) stepped on his stomach, adding more pressure to his already injured spine, “Yes! Yes, just us! More are on the way though!”

“ETA?” he writhed on the floor after she stepped off of him, he watched through blurry vision as she made her way to the closet.

“T-t-ten o-or so… minutes”

“Thank you.” (Y/N) stepped back from the open door as a muscled man tumbled through, he was holding what looked like a plaster spatula, “Really, Rookie?”

The man shot a glare at her that made the agent on the floor feel fear, he slid up onto his arms and tried to slide his way to the door while they were distracted. (Y/N) watched the struggling mess reach for the door frame before she took pity on the poor soul, quickly she stepped over and placed her foot onto his spine again. His scream echoed down the hall.

“Now,” she stepped off his back, “You seem young, how old are you?”

“Twe-twe-twenty-s-s-even…” he whimpered.

Gabriel watched her cock her head to the side in contemplation, “Why are you with Talon?”

“M-m-money… I needed money.”

“For?”

He paused for a second too long; she knew he was going to lie, “My family.”

There was a shaky tilt in his voice, his voice was too careful, and his shoulder’s tensed before he spoke. (Y/N) shook her head and clucked her tongue; she shot his elbow, “Don’t lie to me.”

The agent was sobbing in pain, “Gam-gam-gambling! Dept!”

“Can the vehicles here be tracked?”

“Yes, yes. Even the birds and choppers.”

“What about personal vehicals?”

“I-I-I don’t think so…”

“How far in the ranks are you?”

“N-n-n-n…. not far… started last month.”

(Y/N) nodded her head, “So…” the man beneath her tensed, “You’re useless?”

Before a response was heard, the shotgun fired one last time.


	3. Walking the Wire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Walking the Wire- Imagine Dragons
> 
> This is the first Chapter with a song, I'm trying to attempt song fics... If it doesn't work out then i'll stop  
> Not entirely happy with this I may change it

Reyes slid the cuffs onto her wrists for the second time today. He scanned the room a final time before pushing her through the door. She huffed, “You know you could just ask me to walk, I don’t appreciate being pushed around.”

“Walk.” He gritted out, Gabriel made sure to keep this woman in front of him, he watched her hands to make sure she didn’t take off the cuffs again.

“I guess _you_ didn’t appreciate coming out of the closet that way.” She chirped, (Y/N) glanced over her shoulder, and smiled; big and wide.

He huffed in what seemed like impatience, but she could see the slight amusement in his eyes and the slightest quirk of his mouth. (Y/N) counted that as a win. They continued to make their way down the halls of the base, (Y/N) humming a song to herself as Gabriel made sure that he took care of everyone during his first pass through. The two eventually found themselves in the garage. There were quite a few cars parked in there, all of them jeeps or trucks meant for rough terrain and mountain driving, there were a few personal cars that the agents stationed here owned though.

“Here,” (Y/N) tosses the keys from her pocket to Reyes before heading to the garage door, “Find our ride, Rookie.”

“Will you stop calling me that.” He ground out, glaring at her as she headed to the garage doors.

_If looks could kill_ , she thought. “C’mon, hop to it! We don’t know when anyone else will arrive.”

Gabriel’s glare intensifies and she has half a mind to just meet him with her own until Talon’s reinforcements arrived, but she really doesn’t want to be thrown back into her cell, so with a huff she mumbles an apology, “But can we please go?”

Reyes gives an irritated huff of his own but no further arguments, _this man doesn’t say much does he?_ She thinks, with a shrug she goes back to her own task.

With a roll of her eyes, she dislocates her thumb then slides the cuff off before popping the appendage back in place. (Y/N) kneels down and unhooks the garage door from the floor before making her way over to the button. The thrum of an engine sounds behind her and she looks over her shoulder to see a not so pleased Gabriel sitting in a remodeled Hyundai, the car was comically small for the broad shouldered man and (Y/N) couldn’t help but grin and snicker at his scowl.

She hit the button for the door and watched it rise up before making her way up to the window of the car and waited until he reluctantly rolled it down, “You look so hilariously adorable in this thing.”

“Get in.” he growled, his teeth were clenched and (Y/N) briefly worried for his pretty white teeth, they were going to crack if he didn’t stop grinding them.

Skipping merrily around to the other side, she briefly paused to remove the other cuff from her wrist, she caught Gabriel’s eye as he watched her and gave him a grin as she tossed the cuffs and slid into the passenger seat. They held a small staring contest, (Y/N) continuing to smile unapologetically and Gabriel kept up his glare. Suddenly, she clapped and Gabriel couldn’t help but blink.

“Yay, I win! Now let’s get going!” (Y/N) quickly buckled in, “Shotgun controls the radio!”

Gabriel watched her fiddle with the knobs before starting the engine with an irritated sigh; she decided on a station as they pulled out of the base, he glanced out of the corner of his eye to her bopping her head to whatever song was playing before switching the station to one he favored.

“Hey!”

“Last I checked I have two shotguns. I control the radio.” He glanced at her again to see her reaction to that.

(Y/N) paused before nodding, “Touché” she said, before laughing, “So, you do have a sense of humor, good to know.”

Gabriel decided to answer that with silence. His hands tightened on the wheel as she continued to openly stare at him from across the car.

The silence lasted for a few more seconds, before… “You don’t say much do you?”

…

“C’mon! Who knows how long we’ll be stuck together! Let’s bond.” (Y/N) propped her feet up on the dash and leaned her seat back, “I’ll start; names (Y/N), I like the colour (___) and I was kidnapped at the age of ten and tortured into becoming the perfect weapon… Oh! I also like Mexican food; the spices are my favorite part of it!”

Gabriel kept up the silence, he trained his eye forward. His mind, though, repeated the info given to him. Ten? Ten years old? This woman has survived that long?

“Now, can you tell me why you seem so unprepared? Having a bad day? Or is this really your first day on the job?”

“Mission isn’t going according to plan.” He really needed to stop grinding his teeth, “And I’m not a rookie, I’m one of the commanders of Overwatch.”

“Could have fooled me…”she held her hands up in defense to the glare he sent her, “Now I know mission can go off course but you had to have had some idea of what to bring just in case right?”

Again, silence, (Y/N) did notice his hands tighten on the wheel again.

“You know you’re a real, great conversationalist. Like an amazing one, you should go into public speaking.” (Y/N) shook her head and turned to stare out the window.

They were driving down the mountain; the large expanse of trees and warm brown rocks was beautiful under the clear blue sky. She couldn’t stop the small smile from forming, she felt free.

The silence between them stretched out, with only the radio to break any awkward or uncomfortable airs from growing. The current song ended and the radio host introduced the new track to play. (Y/N) looked over as Gabriel glanced down before turning the radio up, though he seemed a bit reluctant, as if wanted to seem like he didn’t enjoy anything, his scowl didn’t change or soften. (Y/N) furrowed her brow at that but the song was starting and her eyebrows rose and her smile grew.

**Do you feel the same when I’m away from you?**

**Do you know the line that I’d walk for you?**

**We could turn around or we could give it up,**

**But we’ll take what comes, take what comes.**

(Y/N) hummed along to the old song, her mother used to listen to a lot of music, this band was a favorite of hers. Those memories were bittersweet now.

**Oh, the storm is raging against us now,**

**If you’re afraid of falling then don’t look down**

**But, we took the step, we took the leap.**

**And we’ll take what comes, take what comes.**

Soon, (Y/N) is singing along. She hasn’t sung in decades, the last time she did was to help her uncle calm her cousin down as they packed to leave their home. But this song was just so freeing! You couldn’t, not enjoy it!

“Feel the wind in your hair! Feel the rush way up here! We’re walking the wire, love! We’re walking the wire, love! We couldn’t be higher, up! We’re walking the wire, wire, wire. ” (Y/N) looked over to Gabriel and saw that his face had relaxed and he looked very close to smiling. _This_ , she decided, _was going to be fun!_


	4. Phone Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda short, I just wanted to get this chapter in before I started the next one because I've bee taking a while to update.
> 
> Also, the way I'm writing Gabriel Reyes does make him seem like he has no clue what he's doing and that he has never been on a mission before, but it's because of over exhaustion which will be touched on in later chapters. I highly doubt he would actually be this incompetent.
> 
>  

“Stay in the car.”

“Can’t I just stretch my legs?”

“Stay. In. the. Car.” With that Gabriel got out and slammed the door shut.

(Y/N) watched him from her seat, her arms crossed and a pout on her lips. After only a few seconds, she became incredibly bored. Opening the glove compartment revealed a few files and luckily a hidden bank card, _that’s convenient._ The center console had a whack of change, _that’s typical_ , and a nice, easy to track cell phone _that’s… an issue_.

“Well then…” looking over to the shop, she spotted Gabe, just standing by the coffee machine texting, “ _Well then…_ ”

With an annoyed huff, (Y/N) looked over the phone and car again, no wires or anything to help her unlock the phone the old fashioned way, and she didn’t have any means to hack into it. _C’mon, Lady Luck… Yay!_ The phone was still connected to the car, _Ah, good old Bluetooth_ , quickly punching in her contact’s number; she set the phone down and waited for her friend to pick up.

The touch screen of the car glitches for a second before turning purple, “What can I do for you, chica?”

(Y/N) laughed, “Hello to you too, I need to know if you’ve been asked to track me yet?”

“Relax, I’ve got you, this call is completely off the books. I take it you don’t want Talon to find you?”

(Y/N) cocked a brow though the other woman wouldn’t have been able to see it, “What could have possibly given you that idea, Olivia?” she smiled at the noise of frustration that came from the speaker, “Anyway, I’ll be going dark for a while. Can you do me a favor and help keep it that way?”

“Si, si… I know you’ve been looking for a way out. Getting close to twenty years.” That was met with silence, “Now, who’s the big guy that broke you out, amiga?”

(Y/N) snorted at that, “C’mon, we both know that you have his entire life story already, why do you ask?”

“I may have talent with manipulating technology, but _you_ know how to read and manipulate people. So, who is he? Really?”

Looking back at Gabriel, she could see his tense posture and tired eyes even from her distance, “Not the stereotypical, military type… Seems a little too impatient for that. He is military, though. I’m getting a really heavy feeling of ‘I want to be cool and edgy, but I’m too soft and nice.’”

“So a huge emo dork, with the body of a jock?”

(Y/N) snickered at that, but sighed a little before answering, “No... I believe he just wants to help people, but was put in a position… where he can’t ask for help himself… so he stopped trying too.”

There was silence for a few seconds as the other took in (Y/N)’s words, “So… You are going with him to try and help?”

Still looking back at Gabriel, she saw him texting again, he at least was now over by the cashier, “Yeah, I’ll help him and the first thing to do is cut off his phone.”

(Y/N) smiled at the snicker that responded, “Alright, chica, you’ll be completely dark once his phones gone. You know what to do if you can get to a computer.”

“Yeah, yeah, adios, Sombra.”

“Oh, before I go. That car you’re in was fitted with GPS, couldn’t get to it before Talon got a lock. Bye now!”

The little screen flickered before the whole car shut itself off, (Y/N) just stared, deadpanned. “Whelp! That happened.”

With an extremely tired sigh, she slid out of the car and made her way into the gas station, stopping only to toss the phone she used into the soapy water left at the pump that was used to clean a person’s windshield.

The little bell jingled above her when the door opened and drew in the attention of Reyes and the cashier, whose eyes lazily swept her up and down in a way that made her skin crawl.

“I thought I told you to stay in the car?”

(Y/N) just smiled at him and waltzed up to the counter, she looked over the selection of candy bars pulling up a few she’s never seen before, she tried to keep her smile small as she watched Gabriel’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t look too impressed with her.

“Oh, relax Rookie! I wanted to pick out something for myself, is all.” She stepped up to the counter placing her selections down, “And I came to tell you that we need a new car, I don’t like the GPS in ours.” She flicked her eyes up to the cashier and had to bite back a grimace at the look her was giving her, specifically her chest. “Hey! Eyes up here before you lose them!”

Gabriel ignored the look the cashier gave him in response to that and placed the drinks he grabbed on the counter beside all the chocolate bars, “What’s wrong with the GPS?”

“I don’t like how traceable it is… Do you know what this is?” she held up a candy bar that looked like the wrapper was designed by a five year old with an obsession with space, she gave it another look, shrugged and tossed it onto her pile.

“What do yo-“

“Look, Rookie, I really don’t want to explain everything to you. It’s traceable, we need a new car, simple as that.” (Y/N) pulled out the bank card she found and tapped it to the register, “Can I see your phone?”

“No.”

“You are being real difficult right now.” She watched the cashier pile everything into a paper bag and didn’t bother holding back her grimace when he winked at her, “Buddy, see this man here,” she gestured to a not so amused Gabriel, “Yeah, I’m with him, so stop with the creepy eyes.”

The guy decided now was the perfect time to speak, “Well, hey we can always share, right buddy?” he clapped Gabriel’s shoulder with a bright smile full of yellowed teeth. The glare Reyes sent the man made the smile falter very quickly, he glanced at the hand still touching him then back up and the guy had the smarts to pull away and step back, “Uh, right, s-sorry…”

As they headed out, (Y/N) wrapped her arm around Gabriel’s waist, laid her hand against his chest and whispered in his ear, “You know, you’re pretty hot when you get all intimidating, like that.”

She smirked at his slight falter, untangled herself from him and walked a little faster to their car, she glanced at the screen of his phone and began to delete all of his contacts. The names ‘Ingrate’, ‘Ninja’ made her pause, before they too were deleted. She opened the driver’s door and bowed with a flourish, “Your tiny chariot awaits.” She got a grunt in response.

As Gabriel climbed in and got situated, (Y/N) moved around the back of the car, quickly placing the phone behind one of the back wheels before setting herself into the passenger’s seat. She grabbed one of the waters from their goodie bag and settled in for the long ride ahead of them.

“So, we still need to find a new car, got any ideas, Hot shot?” she took a sip from the bottle as they started to back up, the crunch of pavement and gravel was interrupted quickly by the sound of glass and plastic being crushed, “Huh, ‘wonder what that was? Anyway, we need to lose our GPS, so how about we stop at the next popular parking lot we see and go car shopping?”

“Car shopping?” as they backed away further, Gabriel got a good view of what it is they ran over, it looked like a phone. He went to check his own pocket but was handed the water bottle (Y/N) had before he could.

“Yeah, car shopping, we can find a good one where you actually have leg room. We’ll need to swap around some license plates, and I personally think a van or a truck would work best, we can pile blankets or a small mattress in the back!” she took the water bottle back and took a quick sip, “It’ll be fun!”

As Gabriel pulled out of the gas station, he pat his pocket he usually kept his phone in. He stopped the car suddenly which sent (Y/N) flying into the dash. The glare he sent her sent a shiver down her back. “You know, even if that look is directed at me… It’s still pretty hot.”


	5. Highway to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let y'all know, I'm picturing the Soldier:24 skin for Gabe in this (cause holy hell that skin is hot!). I'm thinking that as this story goes on he slowly gains his Blackwatch skin.

“We won’t hesitate, to break down the garden gate, there’s not much time left today!” a deep breath, “Life is a Highway! I wanna ride it all night long! If you’re going my way, than I wanna drive it all night long!”

(YN) sang into one of the water bottles, with her window rolled down, hair whipping around her face, and her grumpy companion on this road trip, white knuckling the steering wheel. So, he hadn’t been happy with her trashing his phone, so she got thrown into the cramped back seat of the car. (Y/N) was still ready to enjoy what little sunlight they have left before night enveloped them. She wasn’t so mean as to sing at the top of her lungs at ten at night, so best do it now.

“Through all these cities and all these towns, it’s in my blood and it’s all around, I love you now like I loved you then. This is the road, and these are the hands!” her voice was slightly off key (Does anyone really sing on key when they’re trying to annoy their company?). Gabriel had decided to turn off the radio after fifteen minutes of her singing every song that came on. _How was he supposed to know they were going to play popular classics that day?_ Why he thought turning off the radio would stop her, she couldn’t say. But after a few minutes of her pleading to turn it back on, she relented, waited for his shoulders to relax, before breaking out into whatever driving or car related song she could think of. (Y/N) had already sung, in her opinion, the best rendition of ‘ _Ridin’ Dirty_ ’ she’s ever done.

Now, the last words for ‘ _Life is a Highway_ ’ were over and she risked a glance at the review mirror. Gabriel’s eyebrows were so low over his eyes and his scowl so deep, the corners of his mouth were almost touching his chin, “You know, if you keep making that face it’ll freeze like that.” His jaw clenched and shifted slightly, “Aw, calm down, don’t grind you teeth. I don’t want your pretty whites to crack. How’s about we play twenty questions?”

“How about we play the quiet game?”

“Do you have something against fun?” (Y/N) furrowed her brows, she could see the vein in his neck from the strain he was currently putting on his teeth, “Unclench you jaw! For fucks sake!” she rolled her shoulders trying to get comfortable again, “Your dentist must hate you… I bet you had braces when you were younger, am I right?”

“No, I did not.”

“But you sleep with a mouth guard though, right?”

With a sigh, Gabriel rolled his eyes to the heavens briefly, “Occasionally.”

“So, are you the type to sleep in pajamas? Like full blown night cap and slippers? Or.. do you prefer au natural?”

With a bigger sigh, Reyes placed his elbow on the window frame of his door and rubbed at his neck, “Why do you care?”

“What, I can’t get to know my new buddy? That’s what twenty questions is about.” She smiled at him, “So; full ensemble, just a shirt, just pants, boxers, underwear, nothing but socks?”

He tried to fight the smile that was growing, “Boxers.” he gave her a quick look in the mirror, “What about you, what do you wear to bed?”

(Y/N) was silent for a moment, “You know that question sounds a bit creepier when a man asks it.” she didn’t seem mad or actually creeped out by this, it sounded as if she came to a sudden realization, “How do you take your coffee? You strike me as a coffee guy, I wanna guess straight black.”

“Straight black?”

“Yeah, you know black like my _soul_! All that edgy nonsense.”

Gabe gave a quick huff at that assumption, “Just for the record, I may dress all in black but that doesn’t mean I’m ‘edgy’, black works for stealth. I also take my coffee with sugar.”

“Wow,” she blinked at this sudden burst of words, “You got real defensive there about your clothes, I didn't even mention your outfit, did I, unknowingly, hit a nerve? Is this a conversation you’ve had often?”

…

“Alright, so we aren’t on that level of trust yet where I can ask about your wardrobe, noted.” She glanced around looking for inspiration for another, no to intrusive, question, “What’s your favorite colour?”

There was silence for while and she almost glanced away from the view of the mountains rushing by before she heard a muffled, “Black.”

Her giggle brought his eyes to the rear view mirror again, her head was turned to the open window and a small smile rested on her face. It was then that he noticed how pale her skin was, how hallow her cheeks and how dark the shadows were under her eyes. Was she really trapped there? Tortured since she was ten? How could she be this happy if that was the case? Glancing back to the road his thoughts on what happened to this woman kept getting darker and darker, with a frown he glanced back at the mirror to find her watching him again, when she didn’t say anything he allowed himself to think her questions were done, until he heard her brief inhale.

“How did you get to the base? I’ve been thinking about this for a bit, and it seems odd that we had to… ‘barrow’ this car. Did you parachute down or something? Did’ja walk there? Dress up as a girl scout to distract them?”

That surprised a scoff of a laugh out of him, (Y/N)’s smile grew and she tilted her head as watched his amusement flash in his eyes. “I was dropped off nearby.”

With an exaggerated head nod and ridiculously pursed lips (Y/N) looked back out the window, mentally weighing the pros and cons of asking this next question. _Pro; Gabe will answer and they can continue playing twenty questions. Con; he’ll be reminded of his phone and get pissy again._ She took a gamble.

“Was the one who dropped you off the ‘Ingrate’ person?” yeah, she could see that _that_ was the wrong thing to ask. _Can we back track, Beep! Beep! Beep! Reverse_!

(Y/N) could pretty much see the walls shooting up, as if they were physically there. The scowl was back and Gabe’s attention focused solely on the road. She was definitely not going to get an answer for that, but now she was curious, was this reaction because he was still angry or was this ‘ ingrate’ important to him? If he was mad about the phone then he would have glared _at_ her instead of the road, so she guessed it was the later.

Still an apology was in order, “Okay, Gabriel,” his eyes found hers in the mirror in response to his name, “I’m sorry about your phone, really I am. But Talon has one of the best hackers in the world. Yeah, they’re a friend of mine but that doesn’t mean that they’ll just ignore an obvious trail to where we are while Talon may be searching for me.” just that thought alone made her scowl, “It’s why I want to be in a new car without a registered GPS, we’re sitting in the equivalent of shooting off fireworks while shouting in a megaphone to them. If it makes you feel any better, when I took your phone I did the whole factory reset thing after deleting every contact and their history.” Gabriel’s face didn’t soften but his eyes did when he realize what she was getting at, “The contacts from your phone, won’t be easy to find now, even if they try contacting you… it’d be like shouting in water or space.”

Silence fell over the car, accepting her words and letting the other have the peace of mind that the words allowed, for Gabriel it was that his contacts were now relatively untraceable for now and for (Y/N) it was that Gabe seemed to have some trust in her to accept her words at face value. Both were now lost in their thoughts, the sun had reached the horizon in the distance and (Y/N) smiled again when she saw it. A quick glance to the rearview mirror told her that Gabe was too lost in his thoughts and the road. It was still light out.

She thought of the intro, tapped her foot against the seat in front of her and silently drew in a deep breath.

“Living easy, living free! Season tickets on a one-way ride! Asking nothing, leave me be! Taking everything in my stride. Don’t need reason! Don’t need rhyme! Ain’t nothing I would rather do! Going down, party time! My friends are gonna be there too!” Gabriel was watching in the mirror again, his face said he was unimpressed; with an arched brow and his mouth thinned, but his eyes said he was amused. (Y/N) took another deep breath, “I’m on the Highway to Hell! On the Highway to Hell! Highway to Hell! I’m on the Highway to Hell!”


	6. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this Head-Canon, that Gabe/Reaper has at least one sleeve of tattoos. Can't be proven otherwise, cause all of Reapers skins have sleeves that cover his arms.

The sun was completely set by the time they reached Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Gabriel’s eyes were burning from exhaustion and (Y/N) was slowly falling asleep in the back, the two reached a mutual agreement that sleep was top priority after the day they had.

It had been some time since (Y/N) has had this much fun, all of the Talon agents sent to ‘work’ with her have grown used to her being silent because she had gotten used to the fact that they didn’t appreciate her talking. So, the fact that Gabriel hadn’t really told her to shut up out right… well she was happy to have someone to listen to her again. Sombra was an exception but they never spoke longer than necessary, Talon didn’t even know they knew each other, Hell they haven’t even met face to face, yet they were the closest thing to friends as two Talon agents could get.

But now that she was free… just thinking about her freedom, it really seemed too good to be true. Maybe Talon had finally given up on her and killed her in her sleep; and this is her afterlife.

(Y/N) blinked her eyes open and furrowed her brows at herself; she really needed sleep if she thinks she deserves _this_ after she dies. She sat up slowly and stretched as much as she could in the cramped car, her neck ached something fierce and her right leg had fallen asleep, glancing up to Gabriel she noticed how his eyes were squinting slightly, he stifled a yawn and widened his eyes before focusing on the road again.

“Hey, Rookie,” a yawn cut off her whispers, “I think maybe staying the night might be a good idea, you look like you’re trying not to pass out and I’m not much better.”

He didn’t answer but the yawn that managed to get through said enough, they drove through Gothic Road for another few minutes before he nodded and made a left. She had no idea why he was turning here, or why he made a right after, when she asked he just gave a tired shrug and stopped the car in front of a seemingly random building.

“Gabe, what are we doing?”

“This whole place is littered with lodges; we could probably find one with a room available for the night.” he stepped out of the car and (Y/N) sleepily fallowed him with her eyes as he round the car.

He opened the passenger door and shifted the seat forward so she could climb out, her foot caught on the frame and she fell into his chest, he smelt like sweat and the sun and she could make out whatever cologne he wore and it was… incredibly relaxing. She didn’t move her head from his chest for awhile; instead she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his waist in a loose hug instead.

“What are you doing?” he whispered, his arms hung at his sides and his head craned away from hers slightly, his eyebrows were furrowed again.

Her response was muffled into his chest and Gabriel’s eyebrow quirked up, he really couldn’t understand what kind of person (Y/N) is; serious one moment, childish the next. With a sigh he takes her shoulders and pushes her up, getting a whine for his effort, his spins her around and pushes her toward the doors to the lodge.

“Someone’s a little impatient to get me in bed.” (Y/N) chirped quietly, she walked a few steps before pausing abruptly and taking a look around. “We still need to go car shopping.”

Turning back around, (Y/N) popped the trunk open and shuffled through the few items back there, “Why don’t you go and pick out our new ride? Nothing that stands out but big enough for your and those muscles.”

Not wanting to argue, Gabriel turns to go but stops and asks, “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna switch around license plates.” With a frustrated scoff, she slams the trunk close, “Or I was going to, but whoever used to own this car doesn’t have a single tool in here.” (Y/N) scowls at the car as if it offended her, “I mean really! What if they need to fix their engine or change a tire?!” she glanced at Gabriel as he just stares at her, “Change of plans, you’ve got muscles, use ‘em to twist off the bolts of both license plates, find one from two different cars to switch ‘em with. I’ll find our new car. We’ll have to rip the GPS out of this one and dump it… Nah, we can skip that.”

Gabriel just continues to watch as she mutters to herself and walks away. He manages to hold back a yawn and looks around the parking lot. He brings his hand up and rubs at his eyes, it takes him a moment to get his bearings again before he kneels down and got to work.

 

 

* * *

 

The room they were given was pretty average, though (Y/N) wasn’t exactly expecting a VIP suit, it was still pretty cozy. The walls being a warm, but not too offensively bright, yellow; dark wooden floors held small, tan leather sofas and birch tables. There was a small kitchenette; a cute fridge, some cupboards, a gas stove and a small wooden table with two chairs. On the right of the kitchenette was a small hallway with two doors.

“You know what I like?” (Y/N) turned around to Gabe and watched as he shed his coat and body armor, “I like stereotypical events. They can be pretty funny! Or awkward…” he turned to look at her with a questioning brow, “You didn’t specify what we needed in the room. A guy and a girl show up at a hotel requesting a room to stay in, the receptionist obviously assuming.”

“What’s your point?”

“One bedroom and if this _is_ a stereotype situation, one bed… I’ll take one of the couches, no worries; you wouldn’t be able to comfortably fit on one anyway.” She turned on the ball of her foot and made her way down the hall, “In exchange for my generosity, I get to use the shower first, thank you!”

She opened the door on her right first and found the bedroom; the bed was a queen, also made of wood. It had generic quilts and blankets you’d expect in a ski lodge and four, somewhat comfortable looking pillows. (Y/N) grabbed one and the top quilt and brought them back out to one of the couches, only to stop and stare at Gabriel, who had decided to spread out on one couch, an arm thrown over his eyes, and laid all of his gear out on the other.

“Wow. You really take the ‘make yourself at home’ thing seriously.”

He only answered with a grunt; she stepped up to the armrest his head was placed on. With his coat gone, he was just left in a black t-shirt and now (Y/N) could make out a swirl of tattoos and scars along this forearm and up his elbow. She traced the lines of the image with her eyes; following the flowing path of feathers and marigolds and roses that tangled, with what she guessed was hair, she traced it up to a pair of dainty feet the crossed each other, the rest of Gabe’s tattoo was hidden under his sleeve.

Without thinking she gently ran her fingers along the picture that twirled and twisted around his arm, (Y/N) followed it even when he lowered his arm to his chest to look at her. Her arm stretched to reach, though her head stayed hovering slightly over Gabe’s, when she felt his eyes on her, (Y/N) glanced down at him.

“What are you doing?” he whispered.

Her answer got caught in her throat for a second, her eyes flicking between his own, “Um… I just noticed your tattoo… It’s pretty.” She straightened suddenly, “Would you want dinner now, or a large breakfast tomorrow?”

He fixed himself upright with a short grunt, before standing with a stretch, “Breakfast, are you sure you’ll be fine on the couch?”

She gave him a cheeky smile, “Aw, you care.” Her mouth softened, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. You look like you need the sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

(Y/N) gave a few slow nods, “Well, I don’t believe you, but if you really want to run yourself into the ground then by all means, go for it. But, try and rest up some, because I’m guessing we have a long drive a head of us? Where _are_ we going, by the way?”

Gabriel inhaled deeply, “I’m taking you to the Overwatch base in Los Angeles, if not for the silent alarm, or for you destroying our only way of contacting my team, we would have already been there.”

(Y/N)’s brow furrowed at the accusation, “If not for me, Talon would be busting down the door any second now. As well as tracing where said team is located. If they are at this Overwatch base then that could put the lives of not only trained agents but engineers, lab assistants and doctors, pilots and anyone else at risk of an attack that no one will be able to prepare for. After everyone on the base has been killed, Talon will then send in the more tech savvy, to go through every computer and data bases there. Locating and invading every single Overwatch base there is. When giving the chance, Talon would swoop in like a plague, wiping out everything. _So_ , would you rather a long drive or the deaths of hundreds?” during her speech, (Y/N)’s back had straightened, hers arm folded behind her and her eyes had hardened. The change in her entire demeanor threw Gabriel off. He had seen it briefly during her quick interrogation of that Talon agent earlier, but after a few hours of singing and jokes, cheeky responses and smiles, he had almost forgotten where he found her.

Reyes blinked, it was silent for a second, “You’re pretty blunt.”

She sighed and rubbed at her eyes, she looked back him and held him in place with her stare; they were tired, sad… but honest, “I can lie, Gabriel. I can twist my words and sweeten my voice. But sometimes, what’s necessary is the cold heartbreaking truth.”

The silence hung between them, it grew in size and soon became awkward as they just continued to stare at the other. (Y/N) broke first; she gathered her forgotten bedding and threw them down beside Gabe. He just continued to watch.

“I’ll shower first, we’ll go to bed, and go out to have something to eat tomorrow. We’ll have to wait ‘till night to take our new ride, so we should try to pass the time somehow. I’m thinking some shopping, we’ll need a day or two of clothes, and maybe we could find a satellite phone for you to call in with.” She whispered into the silence, looking up to only catch his nod.

(Y/N) turned and made her way into the bathroom, the sound of the shower soon following.

 

 

* * *

 

It had been hours since Reyes had last texted Jesse. Normally, it didn’t worry him; the boss knew what he was doing. But, from what the Commander had explained, the weapon he had gone in to find turned out to be a slightly malnourished woman, with a mouth on her that could give Jesse a run for his money on one his good days. Due to a silent alarm, he and Genji couldn’t go in like planned for clean up, that was the last thing he sent.

With another check to his phone, Jesse sighed and turned to his companion, “Hey, Genji? You heard from jefe, yet?”

“No.” his friend continued to stare at the ground, they were currently sitting in a small communal room, every now and then another agent would pass through, giving the two an quick glance before continuing on.

“You worried ‘bout ‘im?”

Genji took a slightly longer pause before answering, “Slightly.”

**Author's Note:**

> Now I Live in Canada, so I am not familiar with US Geography, let alone US geography in 40 or so years after a war with robots. So this land is gonna be somewhat fiction with real US landmarks between Colorado and LA, Vegas is a must though, I've never been but I want the Reader to be there just for the hell of it.


End file.
